Becoming a member
Here we describe the various processes required for a site to join the NGS.
The Process of Joining the NGS
- Contact is established between the prospective site and the NGS. This may be through direct communication, or through completion of the site application form.
- The NGS Outreach officer will organise a Roadshow event to give an introduction to the NGS and the services that we offer.
- The site nominates a Campus Champion who will act as a bridge between the user communities, the host institution and the NGS.
- The site makes a decision of which type of resource member they wish to become, either Partner or Affiliate. This will include the installation of a community specific or general software profile onto their resources. These installation profiles are listed within the NGS Site Level Services document.
- Gather site specific information, and add this to the Grid Operations Centre Database (GOCDB) and the NGS webpage.
Nominating a Campus Champion
Campus Champions should be either a member of central IT services who’s role includes research computing, or a researcher whose work includes related resource utilization and who has a passion for engagement of colleagues in the activity.
The nomination template should be used (as available below) and returned to the NGS on institutional headed paper signed by a senior member of staff representing line management of the nominated person. We recognize that change is inevitable within institutions and so we ask that where the current member of staff is intending to move that a new staff member is identified and a new letter of support provided.
Further Documents
- Campus Champion Nomination Form (.doc/.pdf)
- Campus Champions Flyer
Current Members
Resource Membership
This section details the requirements for a resource provider to become a Resource Member of the NGS.
There are two distinct ways for resource providers to join the NGS, either as an NGS partner, or as an NGS affiliate. Both partners and affiliates run NGS compatible software, and integrate monitoring and support arrangements with the NGS. Partners also contribute significant resources to NGS users at large. A partner must also complete a Service Level Description document which defines what they provide to the user community. More information is available in the NGS Service Description Document (PDF).
Prerequisites
A prerequisite for joining as a member site is that your institution has access to a Registration Authority of the UK e-Science Certificate Authority. Information about setting up a Registration Authority for the UK e-Science CA is available here
Quick Start Guide
There is a Quickstart guide (PDF) to the Joining process which outlines the procedure.
Joining Guide
The NGS Joining Procedure (PDF) is a document that outlines the process required for a resource provider to become an NGS member. If you wish to register your interest in becoming an NGS partner or affiliate, please fill in the site application form.
Software Stack
To become a member of the NGS, sites are expected to install services that aggregate to a profile as per the definitions within the NGS Software Stack.
This covers aspects such as middleware, compilers and libraries. Further details about the service components that make up the NGS Software Stack can be found here.
Testing Procedure
NGS conformance testing is performed by the NGS Inca framework. There is a conformance test script tarball available on the Inca Conformance page.
Service Level Description
Each NGS partner must provide a Service Level Description (SLD) which defines what resources are being added to the NGS, which site services profile is being used to allow connection and which community is being supported. the site specific SLD is an appendix to the common SLD listed below.
